


The Half-Bloods

by Jungle321jungle



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mutants, F/M, Gangs, M/M, Mutant Powers, Mutants, Police
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-05
Updated: 2017-07-05
Packaged: 2018-11-28 06:00:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11411706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jungle321jungle/pseuds/Jungle321jungle
Summary: Jason Grace is the newest cop in Erebus and he is quickly caught up in the mess of the Half-Bloods, a gang of mutants which run the town.





	The Half-Bloods

"You're an idiot you know that?"

"Huh?" Jason asked surprised turning around. Behind him stood an Asian man about his age. An eyepatch sat over his left eye. His hair was a bit too long and he was smoking despite the seventeen plus signs which were against smoking, Jason had seen when walking in.

"You're an idiot," he repeated before taking a long drag from the cigarette.

"May I ask why you've made that assumption?"

The man let out a blow of smoke which settled in front of Jason. "Only an idiot would move to Erebus. Those who are smart move away."

"And you?"

He shrugged. "Been here my whole life. Those like me are the ones with no where else to go."

"Aren't you a bundle of joy."

"I lost my joy a while ago. And you will soon enough. I'm Ethan Nakamura. I'm your temporary partner aka for as long as you live in this shitty place." He said holding out a hand.

Jason accepted and shook it. "Jason Grace. And I plan on staying a while."

"That's what they all say." Ethan shrugged turning around and waving Jason after him. Jason followed Ethan passed other people and desks who he nodded in greeting at. He came to a pair of desks and flopped down in a chair and gestured to the one next to him. "That's yours until my old partner gets back. But you'll probably be gone by then."

Jason rolled his eyes. "Where'd your partner go?"

Ethan picked a picture up off his desk and showed it to Jason. Ethan was in it a taller blonde guy with a scar had an arm around his shoulders as both held their badges up and smiled at the camera. "He's undercover in the Half-Bloods."

"Half-Bloods?" Jason asked confused.

Ethan gave a short and hollow laugh. "If you don't know who they are then then you definitely won't last long. The Half-Bloods is the local mafia but the rumor is they've spread. They've been running around this city for more than thirty years. The old boss was Hades di Angelo. But around eight years ago his daughter took over," Ethan continued sounding a bit bitter. He stared at the cigarette as if it was the source of his problems (it was definitely the source of all his breathing problems but Jason chose not to mention that). "But three years ago she- she was killed by a rival group and another guy took over."

"What's so bad about them?" Jason questioned.

Ethan took a drag. "Despite trying to prove they are harmless normal people have always believed that mutants are something to feared. So the Half-Bloods decided to give them something to actually fear."

~~~~

He took a sip of his drink still staring at the man being held between his two body guards. "You know when you don't pay _and_ when you betray us, you cause a lot of people trouble." Slowly he stood and crossed the room. He stared down at the man's quivering form. The man's face was covered in scratches and scars. He kept jerking a shaking due to the electrocution earlier. He placed only the tip of his finger on the man's throat. The man started choking, his eyes streamed tears, and he kept gasping for air.

He only cocked his head as he watched the man writhe in pain. "And one of those people... is _me._ " After another moment or two the man's body went slack.

He stood up slowly and walked back to his chair and sat down staring at the dead body which now occupied his floor. "Nico?"

"I'll dump him near the outskirts."

"No make it public. Send a message."

"Can do."

~~~~

"That's the fifth one in a month," Ethan frowned.

"Fifth?" Jason asked surprised.

"Fifth to die like this," Ethan nodded pulling out his lighter. We assume it's the Half-Bloods. Our medical examiner is gonna throw a fit."

"Why?"

"Talk to him yourself. I'm not going, he'll yell my ears off."

~~~~

"It makes no fucking sense! I know he was strangled but there is no way to prove it! Damn it! After five of them I still can't figure it out!"

Jason took a small step back as the medical examiner- Will Solace- threw his clipboard on the floor and placed back and forth rubbing his temples.

"Isn't there anyway to it figure out?" Jason questioned.

Will froze and sent Jason a glare.

"Sorry. Sorry," Jason said raising his hands in surrender and Will began to pace once again. "But there has to be something."

Will paused and looked around the room. He quickly closed the door and closed the windows. "There is one thing but it's not exactly... safe or legal _persay._ "

Jason raised an eyebrow. "You do know I'm a cop right?"

Will ignored the question. "What do you think of..." he glanced around even though they were alone. "mutants?"

Jason shrugged. "I don't really know. I don't think they need to be locked up but there has to be a way to be sure that those who aren't as stable don't hurt anyone."

Will pursed his lips. "Have you ever met one?"

"Once," Jason nodded. "She tried to scratch me with poisoned fingernails."

"I know this mutant," Will said slowly. "He deals a lot with the dead... I don't really like to get him involved..."

"If it can solve the case I won't say a word," Jason promised leaning back against the wall.

Will nodded please and dug out his phone and called a number. "Hey. Look I know I told you not to but I need your help with a case.... Please?... Come on. What do you want from me?"

Jason's eyes widened as a man stepped out of a pool of shadows by the wall and up to Will who was still on the phone. He smirked and spun Will around and planted a kiss on the blonde's lips. "That's all I wanted," the man smiled pulling his phone away from his ear. He was kind of short, thin, and pale with dark hair and eyes. And oddly her wore a strange necklace of string and clay beads. 

Will smiled and then his eyes flickered to Jason. A blushed filled his cheeks and he stepped back from the newcomer. "Nico this... uh..."

"Jason," Jason supplied. "Jason Grace."

"Yeah him. Jason this Nico."

Nico gave Jason a once over and narrowed his eyes. "He's a cop," Nico said staring at Jason, looking into the blonde cop's blue eyes.

"He's a cop who cares more about the case than who you are," Will corrected.

"So you're a newbie then?"

"That easy to tell?" Jason asked.

"Cops around here assume every mutant is with the Half-Bloods. If you don't care that means you haven't been around long enough to understand how this city works." Jason only blinked as Nico turned back to Will. "What do you want?"

Will gestured to the body beside him. "I believe he was strangled but there are no marks or anything to prove it. I've got four more just like it too."

Nico nodded slowly and walked closer to the corpse. He peered over it and took a deep breath. His eye lids fluttered and his skin began to appear nearly see through. Jason's eyes widened as Nico's skin flickered completely and his bones could be seen as reached out and touched the body. After a moment he took a deep breath and his skin returned to normal.

"Well?" Will asked completely unfazed.

"Half-Bloods," Nico said like it explained it all.

"I figured. How?"

"It was blurry. The guy had clearly been roughed up first. But from what I can piece together it was mutant work. You can't find any marks cause all damage was internal."

"Certainly. The Half-Bloods then," Will sighed before looking to Jason. "Tell the rest I was able to determine it was internal damage therefore I believe it was the Half-Bloods."

Jason nodded. "Got it. And uh Nico? I promise I won't say anything about... that."

Nico nodded. "I hope for your sake you keep your word."

~~~~

"Put it down."

"But Thalia I _want_ it."

"You don't need it."

"I never said I needed it. I said I _want_ it."

"Dammit Luke! Give the puppy back!"

Luke sighed and turned around walking a couple feet back and handed the puppy back to its owner.

"Are you sure you're not a mutant?" Thalia muttered as she stared walking. "You have a knack for stealing things."

"Like you're heart?" He asked slipping an arm around her waist.

"You also have a knack for being cheesy as all hell."

"Ah you love me."

"Love is a strong word."

"Ouch babe."

Thalia gave him a small smirk as the both turned to go into Nymph's Garden, the local flower shop. She waved to the store front owners, Grover and Juniper as she headed to the back of the store. They slipped in the back and Luke moved the picture of the two owners and hit the hidden button which allowed the access to the base. Part of the wall slid open and both slipped through as it closed and brought them down.

"Finally!"

"Oh fuck off Jackson," Thalia rolled her eyes walking down the metal stairs from the elevator.

"Nico said he's got something important to tell us and I had to wait until you got here," Percy explained.

Thalia nodded and gave Luke a quick kiss before following Percy to the more secure areas. People looked away in respect as they went. Finally they reached the room where body guards Clarisse and Frank opened the door and allowed the two inside where Annabeth, Rachel and Nico were sitting on couches waiting. Annabeth raised a glass of wine in greeting as Percy sat beside her taking the glass from her hands to have a sip.

Thalia grabbed a beer from the bar and took a seat between Rachel and Annabeth.

Nico nodded and stood. "We've got a problem. There's a new cop in town."

"So?" Thalia asked propping her feet up on the coffee table. "We chase 'em out like we did the others."

"I don't think it will be that simple. I'm pretty sure he is a mutant himself."

"Then why would he come here?" Percy wondered allowed.

"He could be one of those I wanna right the-wrong-mutant's-have-done types," Thalia suggested.

"I doubt it," Nico shrugged.

"What makes you do worried about him?" Percy questioned.

"He's Thalia's brother," Rachel said with a small smirk.

Thalia nearly choked on her drink. "What?"

Nico nodded. "His eyes are the same and his name is Jason Grace."

"No. Jason died. Years ago."

"We could use this," Annabeth commented.

Percy nodded in agreement a smile speeding on his ace as he swirled the wine in the glass. "A cop on our side? The perfect inside source. Even better we can get him to take down the cops for us."

"But _how?_ " Thalia shouted at Rachel.

Rachel smirked as the green mist danced around her.

"We can't just go speak to him. We need to set a trap for him and bring him back here," Annabeth pointed out.

"We could send Piper," Percy suggested. "Send her to pick him up at a bar? She could bring him back easily. Thalia gets a brother and we get our own pet cop. Let's set it up."

"Let me speak with him first," Thalia interjected. "I should be able to get through to him easier than threats. Plus I need to confirm this myself."

"Percy nodded. Take Luke with you. If something goes wrong throw the idiot under the bus."

Thalia didn't comment but nodded.

"Wonderful. Now we just need to get him to a bar... Let's see how things play for now but if it comes to it... Nico you think you can get Will to convince him to go out for drinks?"

"I can try."

"Good. And somebody find me Hazel. I got a job for her. Understood?"

"Yes sir."

~~~~

"You called for me sir?"

"Hazel," Percy smiled from behind his desk.

On it sat a strange assortment of items: blue prints, guns, pictures, papers, and a jar with something round floating in it. Hazel paid no mind to the items as she sat down across from him. 

"And it's Percy. If anyone can call me Percy it's Bianca's family."

Hazel nodded. "So you have a job for me?"

Percy nodded. "Yeah. While I certainly don't prefer it- weapons are big part of our organization. I would like you to bring your best metals to the Dealer in exchange for some heavy artillery. I've already sent him the designs. If that's not enough tell him I'm willing negotiate prices."

Hazel nodded. "Anything else?"

"Yeah. Tell your brother straight out that your dating Frank. He'll just get pissed if he finds out it was behind his back."

Hazel blushed and tried to hide herself in her curly hair. "Yes sir."

~~~~

"What are you doing?"

"Building a card tower," Ethan replied carefully placing two more cards on the second to last row of his tower.

"Shouldn't we be working on the Half-Blood murder case?"

"Let me tell you something newbie. There are currently sixty-three _recent_ open murder cases in our little city. Forty-seven of those are Half-Blood related, ten are suspected of being Half-Blood related, and the other six are your average murder. If you want to work your ass off on a case you won't ever solve be my guest. The only shot we have at taking down the Half-Bloods is for my partner Castellan to figure something out while he's undercover. And until then? I'm gonna focus on those other six cases."

"So you just don't care that someone has died?" Jason asked with a slight glare.

"People die," Ethan said placing the last set of cards. He stared at for a moment before he pulled a random card out the middle and watched them all fall. "People die and the world as you know it can die with them. Even so life doesn't stop unless you make it. If you don't you continue on."

"Who'd you lose?" Jason asked him. Score he quickly shook his head. "Sorry. I uh- I've only known you a couple days. That's too personal."

"The girl I loved," Ethan answered. "She was the head of the Half-Bloods."

Jason blinked. "What?"

"I was her cop informant and fiancé," Ethan continued pulling out his lighter and a cigarette. "Until some rival group killed her. Once that happened I decided I wanted to take them down before more of the people I cared about got hurt." He lit the cigarette and took a drag before speaking again. "The new leader found out. He kicked me out and took my eye as a punishment."

"Your eye?"

"Keeps it in a jar on his desk. He would've killed me- that's the usual punishment- but he knew that she wouldn't have wanted that so he let me live."

Jason opened and closed his mouth a couple times. "B-but then you know everything there is to know about them! Why don't you tell everyone-"

Ethan pulled down his shirt collar so that a necklace of string and clay beads could be seen. Jason vaguely remembered Nico having one similar. "They call this the Styx," Ethan explained. "You take it off, ruin it, or damage it? Or if you say, do, write, or read the wrong thing? You're dead before you can even realize you fucked up." Jason said nothing as Ethan stood. "You want a drink? I could use one, maybe two."

~~~~

"You've reached Valdez Car and Auto. I'm Valdez whatcha need?"

Hazel walked in the door of the shop and glanced around. It was empty except for the owner on the phone. His eyes flickered over to her briefly as he raised a finger for her to wait. "I charge a 150 dollar flat fee in addition to work-"

He was cut off as Hazel hoisted a large sack off her shoulder and dropped it to the ground its contents spilling out.

"I'll call you back later. I've got an issue with a costumer." He hung up the phone and walked out behind the counter. He walked past Hazel and her goods to lock the store front and flipped the sign to closed. He walked back to Hazel and picked up a piece of the metal- which appeared gold plated and examined it. "I got the blueprints and quantity. This won't be enough to cover it all. Prices of things I need have gone up."

"We're willing to negotiate money."

He nodded. "Good. I'll be in contact then."

~~~~

"I told you my story. Tell me about yourself Grace," Ethan said taking a swig of beer.

Jason shrugged. "I would if I could."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I can only tell you things that happened in the past twelves years. I woke up in the hospital twelve years ago with only a receipt for a restaurant which I had apparently signed my name on. Since I've just been trying to figure out who I am. I became a cop just so I could have access to files and see if I could find anything about myself to no avail. And I had a vague memory about this city, about Erebus, and that's why I'm here."

Ethan opened his mouth when someone yelled from behind him.

"Hey Ethan!"

Ethan turned around to see some guys waving at him. "You deserve another drink when I get back," he told Jason standing.

Jason watched him go and stared at the glass in his hands.

It wasn't much later that a woman walked in. She wore a long black dress and heels and a feather was in her choppy brown hair. She took the seat Ethan had occupied next to Jason even though there were many more open. "Hey Dakota," she said nodding at the bartender.

"Usual?" Dakota asked her already making the drink.

She nodded. "Add it to the tab," she told him when he gave her the drink. He nodded and went to help somewhere else as she took a sip. Her eyes looked around the bar until they landed on Jason.

Jason quickly looked forward and took a sip of his beer.

She smiled a bit in response. "Sorry if I'm a bit close. This is my usual seat."

Jason shrugged. "It's fine."

"I haven't seen your face here before," she continued taking another sip of her drink.

"Yeah I just moved here," Jason nodded.

"I meant here at the bar actually, but now I'm more confused. Why would anyone move to a place like Erebus?"

"I have my reasons."

"Fair enough. So..." she smiled sweetly turning to him and Jason stared into her multicolored eyes. _"Follow me."_

Jason nodded instantly and she stood and Jason copied her and followed her to the door when a hand grabbed his arm.

"I was going to buy you a drink where you going?" Ethan asked.

"I'm following," Jason replied his thoughts cloudy. _Why was he following?_

The woman said linked her and Jason's arms. She gave Ethan a look to which he rubbed his neck and bit his tongue. She gave a smirk and led Jason out of the bar and down an alley.

Jason blinked confused and looked around. "How'd we get out here?" He asked.

"You're asking the wrong question Jason," the woman smiled.

"How do you know-"

_"Sleep,"_ She said suddenly and Jason's eyelids felt heavy. Things began to blur as she tried to force himself to stay awake as he knees buckled. He was confused as to what was going on until he noticed the Styx around her neck and the smile on her face as he blacked out.

~~~~

When Jason woke up he was tied to a chair in a dark concrete room. At the other end of the room stood a three people. Two of which Jason recognized.

The first was the woman from the bar. The second was the same face as Ethan's old partner Castellan who was undercover in the Half-bloods.

"We'll I'll leave you to it," the woman from the bar said. "I've got a list to cross off before the night ends."

The other woman nodded at her. Her hair was spiky and black and her eyes were a bright blue, but Jason was more focused on the Styx around her neck. "I suggest you hurry then."

The woman from the bar gave a wave and walked out the room through a door off to the left which Jason made a mental note of.

The second woman walked over to Jason and looked him in the eye. "Do you remember me?"

Jason shrugged best he could in bonds. "I remember nothing from before twelve years ago."

She pursed her lips and snapped once. Behind her Castellan walked over with a chair and set it down. The woman sat in it still studying Jason as Castellan stepped back. "My name is Thalia. Thal-"

"Jason Grace. But I assume you already knew that."

"Cockiness won't get you far," she warned. "And you cut me off. You're lucky you're you and I'm me otherwise you would've been slapped or worse. I was going say my name is Thalia Grace."

Jason raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"I'm your older sister. Our father was never in our lives. Our mother was named Beryl Grace. When you were just around two she took you one day and I never saw you again. All this time I thought you were dead, until I heard about the new cop in town." She looked to Jason waiting for some kind of reaction.

"How do I even know that is true?" Jason asked her after a moment.

"You don't. But I have no reason to lie to you. I just wanted to talk to you."

"If you just wanted to talk why was I lured out of a bar and why am I tied up?"

"Piper was just doing her job. You should be lucky she's a top class assassin be happy she just brought you here. And as to why the tying up, I. couldn't have you running away at first. Not to mention I don't know the strength of your mutation."

"Mutation?"

"Have you forgotten that too? You can manipulate the air."

Pieces of memories came back to Jason but he shook them off focusing on the situation at hand. "You're saying I'm a mutant?"

"I am. You are too. It's rare that siblings don't both have a mutation. You'd have to be like Luke here."

"Thanks for rubbing it in babe," Castellan muttered taking a step forward to lean on her shoulder.

Thalia chuckled. "It's my job." She then. Learned her throat and looked back to Jason. "Listen you have two choices."

"The first is you walk out of here and head back to being a righteous cop," Castellan stated.

Thalia nodded. "The second..." she reached her hands to her neck and took off her Styx and held out to Jason. "You join your kind."

"I thought you guys can't take those things off?" Jason commented confused.

"That's true. But as the boss' Right Hand I don't wear one. This is for you. I only wore 'cause girl pockets suck."

Castellan walked behind Jason and undid the ropes. When they fell Jason rubbed his arms a bit. Thalia reached forward and grabbed one of his hands. She then placed the Styx in his palm and closed it.

"You can throw it out or you can put it on," she told him. "But this is the only chance you get. The boss doesn't have a thing for second chances. Luke?"

"Hmm?" Luke asked.

"Bring him home. And pick me up some ice cream on the way home."

Luke raised an eyebrow unimpressed. "It's two AM. Khione's closes at one."

"Shit. Fine get me some French fries."

"No."

"Excuse me who wears the pants in this relationship?" Thalia asked crossing her arms.

"The boss."

Thalia frowned. "Whatever. I'll eat the pizza in the fridge. And Jason?" She said looking back to him. "The faster you make a decision the better."

Jason said nothing and nodded.

Thalia gave him a smile and reached a and gave his shoulder a squeeze. When she did Jason felt a large shock and things went black.

~~~~

"I'll have them done by this time next week," he promised counting the cash in his hands.

"You should really just stay on our side," Percy told him.

Leo shook his head. "I'm a mutant but I don't agree with any of this. Nor do I agree with the government. I stick with money and metal. People will screw you over, items won't."

Percy shrugged. "Have it your way. I just need those. We guns and more Styx."

Leo shoved the cash in his tool belt. "Patience. Being an arms dealer and making weapons isn't easy just because I make it look that way."

"Thalia's back," Annabeth informed Percy walking in the room.

"And?"

"They gave him a Styx. He's yet to make a decision." She then turned to Leo. "You like my newest deigns?"

"I was surprised by them actually," Leo admitted. "But what else should I expect from the genius woman who designed the Styx?"

~~~~

"Hey Will you called for me?" Jason asked walking into autopsy. But the only person there was a half cut body. Jason wrinkled his nose and looked away.

"He didn't call for you." Jason turned around at the sign of the voice to see Nico sitting casually on an unoccupied autopsy table. "I did."

Jason stared at him for a moment his eyes narrowing as he noticed the Styx around the pale man's neck. "Why?"

"It's been a couple days. Just wondering if you had made up your mind or not," Nico shrugged.

"You said you weren't part of the Half-Bloods."

"No I said that cops assume every mutant is a Half-Blood. That may have been what was implied but it isn't what I said."

Jason paused for a moment. "Why did you join the Half-Bloods?"

"I was born into it," Nico answered. "My father was the previous boss. He gave it to my older sister as she was the first born, and then after she died it went to her Right Hand instead of me."

"What? You want it for yourself?"

"No," Nico said shaking his head and climbing down off the table. "I'm not a leader someone would follow. I'm just a member with a high status. But we're here to talk about you not me. Have you made up your mind?"

"How can I? I have no proof anything I was told was real," Jason answered honestly. "Plus I'm a cop. I'm not one for doing things the illegal way."

"Ethan was."

"And Ethan left cause the girl he loved died."

"Don't say it like I don't know that," Nico snapped. After amoment he took a deep breath and continued. "She was my sister of course I know that. But as for Ethan, he did it because people will do crazy things for love."

"That's why you never told Will?" Jason guessed.

Nico's paused clearly caught off guard by the question. "What makes you think I never told him?"

"He seems so willing to protect you from the law even though you've been abusing it."

"Once again we're not talking about me," Nico said shaking his head.

"You never did tell him did you?"

"It's not important."

"I bet you didn't even need to use your mutation to figure out how that man died the other day. You probably killed him."

"I'll tell the boss you're joining."

"What? No! I never said that!"

"The Styx hanging out your pocket begs to differ. _Or_..." Nico continued a light smirk on his face. "I could say you haven't made up your mind as long as you don't tell Will."

"He doesn't need to tell me."

Nico's smirk fell and he paled as he turned to see Will walk in the room.

"Will I-"

"You lied to me," Will deadpanned. "Over and over and over you lied to me. So many times you told me you weren't associated with them. That you were different!"

"Fuck. Just listen Will I was born-"

"I heard the whole conversation and whether or not you were born into it doesn't matter. You lied to me. How do I know what stuff you said was actually true? Jason could be right. You may have killed that man-"

"I didn't."

"And how would I know that? How can I trust you anymore?" Will asked looking ready to cry. "Did you know anything about that man's death?"

"I didn't kill him."

"That's not what I asked you," Will said with a slight glare as a few tears escaped. "I asked if you knew anything about it."

Nico bit his tongue and his eyes flitted around for an escape before he finally sighed. "I knew."

"So tell me. How did he really die? Did you just make up an answer to please me?"

"I can't say anything more," Nico told Will as one of his hands subconsciously rubbed his neck. "We'll both be in trouble if I do."

"Get out."

"Will..."

"No. Get the hell out. You know what the Half-Bloods have done to my family. Get the fuck out."

Nico opened and closed his mouth and turned around and walked toward a corner and disappeared in its shadows.

"You too," Will told Jason. "I won't tell anyone at the station just yet, but I still want you out."

Jason quickly left.

~~~~

"If you're going to ask me I made a choice the answer is no," Jason said giving a glare. "How the hell did you even get in here?"

Luke Castellan only gave him a slight shrug from where he sat on the couch in Jason's apartment. "I picked the lock. And that's not what I came to talk about. I just wanted to tell you two things. First: you pissed Nico off. I'd watch your back. He can use the shadows to appear wherever he pleases. Second Thalia-"

"I don't care," Jason told him. "Get out of my apartment."

"Now now. That's no way to treat a guest."

"You're not a guest," Jason growled. "you're an undercover cop abusing his status."

Luke froze before he gave a laugh. "I'm a not a cop. What about me is cop like? I grew up on the streets with my two younger mutant brothers. The both of them were arrested and experimented on by the way. Why the fuck would I be a cop?"

"You don't need to lie around me," Jason told him. "Ethan showed me the picture of you two."

"I'm not a-" Luke was cut off by a small beeping sound.

"Luke..." Thalia said slowly entering the room from Jason's kitchen. "You..."

"Yes but I don't care about that!" Luke shouted as the beeping sound grew louder. "I love you! I don't give a shit about cops! I only became one to try and stop them from persecuting mutants! But the Half-Bloods is a million times better!" He said frantically as the sound increased. He pulled down his shirt collar to reveal the Styx around his neck- it's middle bead flickering read in time with the sound. "Thalia please believe me!"

Thalia opened and closed her mouth. "I-I-I love you too... But- but I'm the Right Hand to the boss," she continued tears staring to flow down her face. "And biggest crime to him is betrayal. I can't condone it no matter what I feel..."

"Thalia please!" Luke shouted stepping closer to her but she only ran out the apartment. Luke's eyes zeroed in on Jason with a glare as the sound increased even more before a long noise was emitted and Luke screamed in pain and fell to the floor. Jason watched in shock as the man screamed and reached for his neck which was steaming.

Tears flowed from Luke's eyes as he kept screaming before all it once it feel eerily silent and Luke went rigid. Luke's eyes were still wide open but they held no life in them. His mouth was still screaming without sound.

Jason wanted to say something, to bed down and figure out if Luke was okay- but he already knew the answer. Even if he hadn't the large blackish red burn around Luke's neck underneath the Styx was clue enough.

Jason stepped backward before he turned and ran out the apartment. Thalia sat on the floor in front of him. She was sobbing heavily and Jason wasn't quite sure what to go but sit beside her. "I'm sorry," he told her finally.

Thalia shook her head and wiped away some tears. "It's better I found out now rather than later."

"Still I got him killed..." Jason said quietly.

"No, he did that to himself by violating the Half-Blood code," Thalia said. She sounding like she was reading from a book of facts, trying to keep her emotions at bay. "I should go. You should call 9-1-1 and tell them you found L- him like that."

Jason tried to protest but Thalia stood and quickly hurried away. Jason let out a sigh and took of his glasses before running a hand through his hair. He sat there for sometime before pulled his phone out his pocket and dialed.

~~~~

"There you are!" Ethan said when Jason approached his desk. "You look like hell."

"I feel like it," Jason muttered. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I need to tell you something."

"Save it," Ethan replied. "Got a murder cross town. Looks like a normal one too. So let's get moving."

~~~~

"What did you want to tell me?" Ethan asked Jason after they had been driving for a while.

"It can wait," Jason said shaking his head.

"You look like hell, so I doubt that."

"Don't worry about me. How long until we get to the crime scene?"

"Depends on if you'll stop yelling every time I speed up."

Jason shook his head. "I will continue to shout. I've learned that you have two driving speeds. Slower than the speed limit and NASCAR."

"But everything is better in NASCAR!" Ethan protested before honking the horn at the car in front of him which had stopped to let a pedestrian cross.

"Not my heart rate," Jason muttered.

~~~~

"You're a cop. Can you just drive like one?" Jason groaned as they finished up at the scene.

"Why?" Ethan shrugged. "I have privileges now."

"Nakamura!"

"Yeah captain?" Ethan asked looking over to where their captain stood.

Zoë Nightshade crossed her arms and frowned. "Don't abuse your power."

"Why are you even here? You usually don't come out the scenes."

Zoë nodded sadly and her eyes flickered to Jason. "I need to talk to you. It's... it's about Castellan."

At her words Jason's heart sank to his shoes. All morning he had been trying to avoid telling Ethan the truth.

Ethan's eyes widened. "What about him?"

Zoë beckoned Ethan away from Jason who silently walked back to Ethan's car and climbed in the passenger seat. He sat their silently looking only at his hands folded in his lap. Soon the sound of footsteps grew closer and Ethan opened the driver door and climbed in. He said nothing as he started the car. He backed up quickly and then jetted out into the street at NASCAR speed- but Jason didn't have the heart to yell at him.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Ethan asked after speeding through other cars and a stoplight.

"I was going to tell you this morning," Jason said honestly. 

Ethan gripped the steering wheel tighter and he made a sharp turn. "What did you do?"

"I didn't. I just found hi-"

"What did you do?" Ethan asked through gritted teeth.

"I just told you I found-"

Jason was cut off as Ethan suddenly slammed on the brakes and threw the car in park despite the fact they were in the middle of the Erebus' main town square. Car honked and zoomed around them but Ethan didn't care he turned to Jason and grabbed him by the collar. "Don't give that bullshit!" Ethan screamed. "Luke may be stupid but he's not stupid enough to get himself killed by the Styx! He was at your apartment! So tell me right now what the fuck did you do my best friend?" Ethan demanded, tears beginning to flow down his face.

"I'm sorry," was all Jason responded with.

Ethan released Jason and wiped his face before he opened the car door and stepped out into the street and hurried to the sidewalk. Jason sighed and slid over into the driver's seat. He drover the car just over to the side of the road and parked it before taking the keys to go find Ethan.

~~~~

Ethan stood leaning against the building of a coffee shop cigarette in hand about a block away.

"What happened?" Ethan asked Jason when he approached.

Jason ran a hand through his hair. "I slipped up. I didn't realize how powerful the Styx was. I didn't realize what it could do. And Thalia... she said as the Right Hand she couldn't ignore it."

Ethan let out a puff of smoke. "Once the beeping starts only the Right Hand, boss and a few select others can stop it. If they do depending on circumstance theirs can be activated- and it won't stop." He paused to take a drag. "It's effect differs based on the Styx. Some burn, others shock, some do both, others are worse. The girl who designed them was an evil genius." Ethan gave a short hollow laugh. "Bianca admired her. She had them built immediately. Built and distributed... I didn't even question when she gave me this one. I loved her too much to care about the death collar she placed around my neck."

Jason didn't reply as stood next to him.

"So what are you going to do?"

"What?"

"Are you going to join them? Gonna join them and be a fucking pawn? Or stick to the law?"

Jason blinked and turned to him surprised. "What would make you think I would join?"

"I know that look on your face. I've seen on many others. I helped with recruitment and keeping the cops off the trail."

"I don't know what I'm going to do," Jason admitted. "It seems being involved and not being involved with them carry the same punishment."

"I think that's the most rational thing you've said to me."

Jason rolled his eyes.

"I-I just wish I didn't have this stupid thing around my neck," Ethan said using on hand to reach up and grab his Styx. "If I didn't have this I could've warned Luke better. I would've told him how to avoid getting on boss' nerves. That he above everything cares about loyalty. That Percy is an all around nice guy until-" Ethan cut himself off suddenly when a faint beeping could be heard. Slowly he removed his hand from his neck to reveal the middle bead on the Styx was flashing red and beeping. "But I didn't say anything. I didn't say anything!" Ethan yelled to no one in particular.

Jason stepped back in horror mumbling to himself. "Nonononono..."

"All I said was that Percy- fuck. I said his name," Ethan said tears welling in his eyes. He gave a laugh void of all humor. "I fucking said the bastard's name... well there is no turning back now," Ethan said as it began to speed up. He turned to Jason. "Remember this. Their base is underneath Nymph's Garden, a flower shop-"

"Shut the fuck up! You're making it worse!" Jason screamed but Ethan kept digging himself a deeper hole as he beeping increased.

"Just go to the back of the store. On the wall is a photo of he two owners. Move it and there is a switch-"

"Shut up!"

"It will open a hidden door in the wall- it's an elevator. Go in and it will slide shut and bring you down there. Once down there are more stairs. Take them. Just go straight until you can't then go right. The last room."

"Do you fucking listen?" Jason screamed grabbing Ethan by the face and attracting the eyes of those passing by. "Shut up!"

Ethan shoved Jason off and in one of Jason's hands came Ethan's eyepatch. Ethan paid it no mind and kept speaking rapidly as the beeping increased even more while Jason stared into his empty eye socket. "If you walk with a purpose the body guards will let you right-" Ethan was cut off as the noise when a long noise was emitted from the Styx.

Ethan's one good eye rolled back in his head as his body went rigid before he toppled over landing hard on the concrete.

People around them were shouting for 911 but Jason already knew it was too late for them. He stared down at the eyepatch in his hands with horror in his eyes. In two days, he had gotten two people killed.

No- he hadn't killed them. The Styx had. And the owners of the Styx were the Half-Bloods themselves. They- that _Percy_ had killed them. Luke who had even wanted to convert to that side. And Ethan who had only fallen for the wrong girl.

How many others had this _Percy_ killed? How many others had his Styx killed while he sat in his underground office.

Jason was suddenly aware of the screams which surrounded him. He looked up to see the wind rushing around him violently- cars and trees even people around him were being thrown this way and that crashing into others. People stared at him and horror and Jason became aware that his feet weren't even touching the ground- rather he hovered a few feet above it, and Ethan's body. His mouth dropped open and once stopped and Jason fell to ground along with everything else.

Everything was silent.

Then the people around started yelling.

"He killed the detective!"

"He's a mutant!"

"He must be with the Half-Bloods!"

"Run!"

"He'll kill us all!"

Jason watched as people fled from him and then he dropped Ethan's eyepatch and took off down the street himself.

Jason didn't know where he running. He only knew that he was running. He kept running and running when a store he ran past caught his eye. Jason stopped immediately and back pedaled to read its name _Nymph's Garden._

Anger welled in Jason's chest and he stormed inside. The owners paid him no mind as they helped a customer. Jason walked briskly to the back room and scanned the wall. Her quickly found the photo and moved it and hit the switch.

A slight humming sound followed before the wall slid opens and Jason stepped through. It closed and Jason could feel himself moving downward until it opened again.

He walked on a metal platform with stairs down to a main level. He walked down then and counties straight until he reached the end of the hall. He then promptly turned right and continued. No one paid him any mind as he walked. No one said a word. Finally he came a door with two people standing arms crossed in front of it. Jason ignored them and pushed open the door and walked through slamming it behind him.

In the room sat a man behind a desk looking over some papers. He looked up with an eyebrow raised and Jason could see his sea-green eyes. "You Percy?" Jason demanded.

"Yup."

Jason stalked forward and slammed his hand's down on Percy's desk effectively causing some things to fall to floor, including a jar which broke releasing liquid and something white a round into the floor.

"Are you planning to clean that up?" Percy asked.

"That's all you have to fucking say?" Jason growled. "Luke and Ethan are dead because of you. Because of you, I'll never be able to work again because everyone knows I'm fucking mutant! Not to mention they think I killed Ethan!"

"Okay. So you've decided to join us?"

"Are you even listening to me?" Jason shouted.

Percy nodded. "I am. And from what I gather you will never be able to work. You will then starve. You won't have anywhere to live. You will be ostracized wherever you go and no matter what you do. And currently the only safe place for mutants is here."

Jason froze. His hand drifted to his pocket, where the Styx still sat, Percy's words ringing in his ears. Finally he pulled out the Styx and flung it at Percy who blocked it by having the liquid Jason had spilled fly up in form a barrier. The Styx fell to the table harmlessly and the Percy returned the liquid it's previous spot on the floor.

Jason ignored all of this. "I'll join but I'm not wearing that."

Percy shrugged as a smirk played on his face. "The public has recognized you as a mutant. In their mind you are already wearing it. But no matter," he continued. "I'm glad your first mission went so well."

"First mission? What are you talking about?" Jason demanded.

"Oh that's right you don't remember," Percy smiled. "We did wipe away twelve years of memory and put some new ones there so I suppose this is to be expected. Even so you completed your mission, Bianca would be proud."

"I've never worked for you- or her before." Jason protested.

"Whether you believe that or not it doesn't matter to me. What matters is that mission was completed, traits were found and eliminated. In this case they are-were Luke Castellan and Ethan Nakamura. Well done."

Jason opened and closed his mouth as mementoes came back at full force and he gripped his head and the desk in front of him to stop from falling over.

_"Okay go over that again," Jason requested._

_"I run an organization Jason," the girl dressed fully in black told him. "This organization was given to me by my father. This organization fights for the welfare of mutants. My organization is also growing to other cities- such as this one- and states all under the Half-blood name. But I need your help. I need someone to go to each city and evaluate and if needed eliminate the traitors amongst us."_

_"I'm not sure how I feel about elimination."_

_"You don't even get your hands dirty," the man who stood behind her added._

_She nodded. "All you need to do is get them to admit that they've betrayed us. Betrayal is the worst crime one can commit. These necklaces which were recently distributed? I call them Styx. It will do all the work as long as someone wears it. It eliminates those who betray, lie, or in anyway threaten our organization."_

_"I don't want to be wearing this then," Jason told her. "I'm all for the Half-bloods but if I have to lie to do this mission, I'm not wearing it."_

_She chuckled. "Of course not. Percy remove it."_

_The man behind her- Percy- nodded. "Sure Bianca," he said as he walked behind Jason to removed the Styx from Jason's neck._

__

_"That's boss to you," Bianca said with a slight glare to her Right Hand._

__

_"What do I get out of this?" Jason questioned._

__

_Bianca nodded. "Money of course."_

__

_"I want half now."_

__

_"That can be arranged. You will revive all the money now." Bianca snapped once and Percy placed a large stack of 100s on the table._

__

_Jason picked up one and began counting it a small smile on his face._

__

_"When you've finished with the whole thing, I have something I think you'd like more than money," Bianca told him._

__

_"Which is?"_

__

_She snapped once more and Percy dropped an orange folder on the table. Jason reached for it an pulled out a picture of a girl. She had spiky black hair and bright blue eyes which matched Jason's._

__

_"I'll tell your sister's location," Bianca smiled cruelly. "So... Mr. Jason Grace do we have a deal?"_

__

_"Is there a catch?"_

__

_"There always is."_

__

_"What is it?"_

__

_"It's been foreseen by our oracle that there is only one way for you succeed is your mission."_

__

_"Which is?"_

__

_"Your memory. You will loose it time and time again but it will always come back."_

__

_Jason but the inside of his lip. "I'd still get to see Thalia right?"_

__

_Bianca took Jason's Styx from Percy and placed it around her neck and Jason watched as a small red light on it flickered before shutting off showing it was activated. "You will see your sister. I swear it on the Styx," Bianca stated._

__

_Jason nodded. "You have a deal."_

__

_Bianca smiled and reached out and hand which Jason accepted and shook. "Wonderful. Now, Percy fetch me Hera and we can get started."_

When things came back into focus, Jason stared back at Percy. Jason blinked a couple times, after a moment he stood up straight. Percy held out the Styx to him and Jason promptly placed it around his neck. "I'm ready for my next mission sir."

Percy hummed in approval. "Welcome back Jason.


End file.
